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Ashraf's election challenged in Pakistan courts

In Karachi Pakistan\'s former captain, Rashid Latif filed a petition through his lawyer challenging Ashraf\'s election.

Karachi: The election of Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board has been challenged in the Sindh and Lahore High Courts a day after the PCB announced him as the first elected head of the board.

In Karachi Pakistan's former captain, Rashid Latif filed a petition through his lawyer challenging Ashraf's election and the new constitution of the board while the heads of the regional cricket associations of Faisalabad and Sialkot filed a similar petition in the Lahore High Court on Thursday.

A source, aware of the developments, told PTI that Chaudhary Anwar of Faisalabad association and Zulfiqar Maliik had filed a joint petition terming Ashraf's election as unconstitutional.

"They have claimed that since the PCB never got the new constitution approved by all member associations nor sent them a copy of the new constitution the whole election process is unconstitutional," the source said.

With two days to go for the general elections in the country, Ashraf was elected in a rather haphazard and secretive manner after a meeting of the Board of Governors of the PCB in Islamabad.

In one day not only was the nomination committee finalised to recommend names of two candidates on behalf of the chief patron of the board -- who is the president of the country -- the Board of Governors also reconvened to select and elect Ashraf as their new chairman for the next four years.

Many former players have described Ashraf's election as a hurriedly carried out process which could have waited until after the general elections. Latif, who had earlier also filed a petition in the SHC challenging the PCB constitution, said he had filed a second petition because of the new constitution which has been cleared by the ICC.

"We have basically challenged the process of selecting or electing the chairman and some clauses in the constitution which are not democratic," Latif said.